Amber Benson (“Tara” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show) did a brief tour in the UK to promote her new DVD Love, Liars & Lunatics. Visiting a fair few Forbidden Planet International shops, one of which (luckily for us) is located in Leeds.

The signing was from 4:30 to 6pm on Wednesday 19th September and unfortunately it was one of those grey days where you just knew it was going to rain at the worst possible moment and of course, it did. The staff of FPI Leeds were kind enough to let everyone in to the shop whilst they waited. A few were there to get things signed for friends or family but the majority were there for the opportunity to meet Amber.

Pleasingly, Amber is one of the nicest people one could hope to meet; she asked everyone’s name and remembered it, gave out hugs, took pictures with those who asked and generally made everyone feel that for a few minutes even the English weather just didn’t matter.

Once the line of fans was gone it was time for a few questions with Amber, iPod at the ready (yes, they can record now), list of questions dug out of my bag and it was a go:

Sabrina Peyton: Just a few questions, I didn’t want to bore you to death.

Amber Benson: No, no.

Hit me with your best shot. Whatever you want.

SP: What has been your favorite role to date?

AB: Probably my most favorite role to date is Race You To The Bottom that was actually played at the London Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and I actually made the rounds, it played Outfest, a lot of gay film festivals in the states, but I just really love that film and I’m really proud of it and the character was very multi-faceted. She was kind of a whinny bitchy beautiful person so it was really fun to do, I enjoyed her. Like I said she was probably my favorite as of right now.

SP: As of right now of course, depending on how far you go.

AB: Exactly.

SP: What was the hardest character to play?

AB: The hardest to play um, gosh I did a film called King of the Hill that Steven Soderbergh directed and I played an epileptic girl and that was very difficult because I had to have a seizure so I watched hours and hours of actual footage from epileptic clinics and people having seizures and you know it wasn’t very pretty, but it made it easier I could model what I was doing on what I saw.

SP: How do you choose what project to take on?

AB: When they offer me money. I need money to pay my bills (laughs). Usually it’s by what appeals to you, you read something and it’s something that you respond to, or you don’t. I try to do things that I respond to, you know. And there are things you do for money, they call that pornography! (laughs) Um…

SP: Since were in a comic book store, any comic book projects coming up or not quite yet?

AB: The last thing I did was Shadow Play and that was really fun, I had a good time with that but as of right now there is nothing on the horizon. I would like to do more graphic novel comic work but you know you have to have something that you are excited about that kind of fits into that world, and as of right now I’m stuck in prose world, so…

SP: Are there any characters out there in the comic book world that you’d want to write? Don’t know if you’d want to write Superman or Batman?

AB: Sock Monkey!

I’m so down for sock monkey, I love Tony Millionaire.

SP: There you go better then Superman

AB: Superman’s different, maybe not better.

Oh I said Superman, Batman; oh, they’re interchangeable aren’t they? They are very different, I have a friend who loves Batman and she would kill me.

Batman!

SP: How did you find collaborating with the comic book artist, going from just writing to someone who you really had to have visual added in to your writing as well. Was that difficult?

AB: I worked with a couple of different artists and it just depends on the artist. Like I did a little story for Image with my friend Jamie Mckelvie and that was really fun because it was my friend and he just, I didn’t have to say much, he just was really able to bring it to the table. And then I worked with Ben Templesmith - he’s incredible. He’s fantastic, very, very talented guy and so nice. And he really took what I wrote and took it to the next level. I get really anal and try to write a lot of stuff when I’m giving detail and he took that detail and ran. Shadow Things was a beautiful book and I’m really proud of it.

SP: All of Bens work you just want to have on your walls and decorate around it.

AB: Oh, yeah. Yeah, problematic. And I have nothing from any of it, they didn’t go – “Here, take a story board or two,” You don’t get any of it.

SP: Anyone in the comic industry that you would like to work with that you haven’t? Anyone that you know or have seen their work?

AB: Oh no, I mean I love Alan Moore stuff, his Promethea is incredible. Who would I like to work with? I got to work with Terry Moore, for god sakes! That was an incredible experience, talk about an artist who, just…I mean he did the Buffy stuff for Chris Golden and it’s just beautiful the way he draws women. Women with real bodies and breasts and hips and sensuous faces, and I just think he is a major talent.

Just in the short amount of time I’ve worked in the comics world I’ve gotten to work with some amazing people.

SP: Which do you prefer; acting or directing? Out of everything that you do? What’s your favorite?

AB: Gosh! Probably a tie between writing and directing right now. I like directing because I get to boss everybody around, but writing is good too because you get to boss fictional characters around. You’re really creating their whole world - it’s the most engrossing work that I do you just become you’re so involved in it. Whereas in acting, I love acting and I don’t want to give it up at all, but its regurgitating other peoples words so sometimes it can be tough. Very rarely do you get to do something, it’s wonderful like with Buffy you get to work with a great world, great actors, great writers, great people and as an actress you just sort of end up doing what comes your way and not always the best stuff. So at least with writing and directing you have more control.

SP: Any favorite book authors?

AB: I love Russian literature. Oh, the tragedy! Um, I love Donna Tart. Big fan of Chris Golden because he so talented and he’s one of my good friends. Um, who else do I love? I read anything. I love Charlene Harris, I think she’s great.

SP: I read somewhere Marion Zimmer Bradley, is that right?

AB: I love MZB how did I forget that? The Mists of Avalon is such a classic.

Who else? I love the Harry Potter books I think they are able to open up the world of reading to so many people. She’s (J.K. Rowling) magical. I like Stephen King too but he said somewhere that she’s a storyteller and he’s really right. She tells a good yarn. She just draws you into that world. She may not be the most literary person but she is a magical storyteller and that’s a gift.

Diana Win Jones is another one that I loved growing up she did all those Witch Week books and those are the sort of prototypical fantasy kid thing. I loved her stuff.

SP: Any favorite music besides, of course, Wham! (threatened to be played in the background while we chatted by one of the lovely staff of FP).

AB: I love Jeff Buckley and, who else? I got to love my boyfriends band Common Rotation, even if he wasn’t my boyfriend I’d still love it because they are very good. Johnny Cash put on a little Johnny Cash and I’m happy. A little Johnny Cash, little Ryan Adams gets me in the mood.

SP: This is one we have asked a lot of people, sometimes we get good answers sometimes we don’t - it’s up to you. What’s the geekiest thing you own?

AB: The geekiest thing I own?

I’m trying to think what I’ve bought because I’ve been given stuff when you go to things and people give you gifts that can be pretty silly. I got a lightsaber once but that went to my little cousin. He stole it from me. I had it in my house for a while and he ended up with it. How could you say “no” to a 10 year old? “You want the Lightsaber? Yeah, I’m an adult - you take it”.

I don’t know what the geekiest thing in my house is. Probably the saddest thing is when you have pictures of yourself like the Buffy stuff laying around. Pictures of yourself all dressed up as a lesbian witch - that’s the winner. That’s probably the geekiest thing I own. Or my mixer. I like to cook so my mixer, that’s pretty geeky.

SP: What kind do you have?

AB: I have a big kitchen aid.

SP: I had one of those but my aunt has it now, my mom had it but the electricity is different so I couldn’t bring it over.

AB: That’s painful.

SP: Do you have any projects that we can look forward to?

AB: Just sold my first novel, supernatural romance ala

From theswivet.blogspot.com
“Death’s Daughter, the story of a young woman trying to make it as a young urban professional in NYC who slowly comes to realize that her father is actually the Grim Reaper and that she must rescue him after he’s kidnapped by unknown forces in order to save her entire family (not to mention the world)”

It’s a first person. I go back and forth - I may go back. I don’t know, I’m in the middle of it so I may go back and we’ll see what it ends up as. We’ll see, we’ll see what happens. I’m just having fun writing it. That’s all that matters. I’m 50 words in so we’ll see how it goes.

It was lovely speaking to you Sabrina.

SP: It was lovely speaking to you as well, and thanks!

Even after a good 20 minute discussion it was confirmed, Amber is a very fun, sweet and extraordinarily nice person. Go pick up her work which you can find oddly enough in Forbidden Planet shops (amongst other places) and enjoy.

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